Fig wasp: What it is and what it does in figs

Does the fig wasp ring a bell? If not, you should take a look at this article. These insects are really impressive. They have gotten co-evolve with fig trees and take advantage of their fruits, while pollinating them. In addition, they stand out above all because they spend their larval life inside the figs.

In case you feel a bit curious about these insects, I recommend that you continue reading. We will explain what is the fig wasp and what is its biological cycle. Also, we’ll talk about what they do to figs and their correlation.

What is the fig wasp?

When we talk about fig wasps, we are referring to wasps belonging to the superfamily Chalcidoid. We can distinguish two different types of them: Fig pollinators and non-pollinators, They only feed on plants. The first are part of the family Agaonidae. Instead, non-pollinators belong to various families within the superfamily Chalcidoid.

The fig wasp is a key insect in many ecosystems. As expected, figs serve as food for many different animal species, thus being vital for various living beings in the respective ecosystems. Consequently, the pollinators of these vegetables are also pollinators.

Fig Wasp: Biological Cycle

Now that we know what a fig wasp is, let’s see what its life cycle is. This is closely related to fig trees, as they use them as hosts. As we have already mentioned before, there are pollinating and non-pollinating wasps. The former are part of a biological mutualism, that is to say: The fig wasp and the fig trees interact biologically, mutually benefiting each other and improving their biological aptitude. Instead, non-pollinators only benefit from this correlation. Despite this, the life cycles of both types of wasps are very similar.

types of pollination

In the case of pollinating fig wasps, the females, once mature and fertilized, They enter the interior of the immature fig and lay their eggs there. The entrance is made through the ostiole, a natural hole found in the fruit. Once inside, they look for the stigmas of the flowers to lay their eggs there. As the ostiole through which they enter is usually very narrow, it is very common for females to lose their wings and/or antennae when entering. In order to facilitate their penetration into the fig, they have small spines at the base of the head through which they are able to hold onto the walls of the entrance hole.

As the mother wasp has also been born in some other fig, it acquired pollen in the same one that during the laying of its eggs it is leaving in the new fruit, thus fulfilling its function as a pollinator. Then it ends up dying inside the fig, which absorbs it to acquire nutrients.

Wasp larvae in figs

Apart from the pollinating fig wasps, there are many species from different families that also lay their eggs inside these fruits, but do not pollinate them. These are parasites of the fig and surely also of other wasps. Like the previous ones, they spend their larval life inside the fruit.

As the fig develops and matures, the wasps complete their biological cycle. The males of many wasp species lack wings. so they stay inside the fig to mate with the females. Then they dig a tunnel so that all the females that have been fertilized can come out in search of another fig. Some of the males end up dying inside the fruit, or fall outside, where they will end up dying in a short time.

The main difference between pollinating and non-pollinating wasps, as far as their biological cycle is concerned, is that the first collect pollen from the fig in which they were born and they leave it in the fig where they lay their eggs.

What do wasps do to figs?

Knowing now the life cycle of fig wasps, let’s discuss in more detail what the fruits do. For this, it should be noted that, at least in the family AgaonidaeThe females have wings while the males do not. One of their goals is mating inside the sicone. What is this? A sycone is a structure that houses many, many small flowers. As some of you may already know, fig trees produce their flowers inside the figs. Therefore, these are not technically fruits, but sycones. The other objective that the males must fulfill is to enlarge the opening of that siconum, or fig, so that the females can come out of its interior.

Some species of fig wasps, including females of the family Agaonidaepenetrate the figs to deposit their eggs in them, specifically in the stigmas of the little flowers that are inside. Some species belonging to other families of this type of non-pollinating wasps they have come to develop a so-called ovipositor. It is a very long organ with which they can lay their eggs without having to enter the fig, but they can do so from the outside. An example would be the subfamily sycoryctinae.

figs eat wasps

There are more than 600 different species of figs. The vast majority of them have sycones with three different types of flowers: female with short pistil, female with long pistil and male. Agaonid wasps can lay their eggs only in those female flowers that have short pistils, the others are pollinated and end up producing seeds. The female wasp dies inside the fig. This has enzymes that are capable of digesting these insects and absorbing their nutrients.

As happens on many occasions, nature never ceases to amaze us. The way different species find to help each other is truly amazing. While it is true that most people are not very fond of wasps, this shows that They are essential to ecosystems.

Fig wasp: What it is and what it does in figs